The present invention relates to an apparatus for the correction of craniofacial abnormalities, and more particularly to a minimally invasive device for reducing various fractures of the craniofacial skeleton.
When a major cranial injury is suffered (e.g., from a blow to the head), the craniofacial bones may be fractured and become depressed into the head cavity resulting in cranial abnormalities. Each individual bone piece must then be reduced in order to minimize the fracture and realign the craniofacial bones. During this procedure, the surgeon must precisely locate, engage and reduce the fractured bone pieces to ensure the patient's bone structure heals without long term abnormality.
Initial practices, which are still widely used today, require the fractured bones to be exposed by making a bi-coronal incision, and peeling the skin away from the affected area to allow access to the fracture site. Exposing the fractured skeleton allows the surgeon to identify, and with the use of traditional surgical instruments, realign, the fractured bone pieces. Surgical instruments, such as surgical elevators and spatulas, which are widely known in the art, permit surgeons to dig beneath the fractured bone to pry the bone pieces back into alignment. These devices, however, do not provide surgeons with precise control over the amount or direction of reduction. Furthermore, such invasive techniques increase a patient's chances for infection and facial scarring.
Another known surgical device used in such procedures is the “Carroll-Girard Screw,” which is basically a self-tapping screw with a T-handle. The Carroll-Girard Screw improves upon surgical elevators and spatulas because it may not require a bi-coronal incision for access to the fracture site. Rather the surgeon may engage the fractured bone pieces using the Carroll-Girard Screw by simply making one or more incisions near the fracture. The Carroll-Girard Screw, however, requires a surgeon to pre-drill a pilot hole into the fractured bone pieces for proper engagement. Furthermore, similar to surgical elevators and spatulas, the Carroll-Girard Screw does not provide a surgeon with precise control over the amount or direction of reduction. Instead, the Carroll-Girard Screw depends exclusively upon the surgeon's manual dexterity to reduce and realign the fractured bone pieces.
Thus, there remains a need for a minimally invasive fracture reduction system that provides a surgeon with control over the amount of reduction to minimize cranial fractures and to realign the fractured bones as close as possible to their original shape. The present invention addresses this problem and others by providing a Craniofacial Fracture Reduction Assembly that utilizes a self-drilling threaded fragment manipulator, an alignment plate and preferably a reduction nut. The present invention is minimally invasive, requiring only a few minor incisions to accommodate the threaded fragment manipulator, and an optional viewing endoscope. This arrangement reduces the possibility of infection, scarring and decreases healing time. Finally, the present invention allows the surgeon to place the reduction system in a variety of locations above a patient's face, providing ideal access to the fracture location.